Monday, November 13, 2006

The King Memorial...

"Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."

Ground was broken today for The King Memorial, which will be the first memorial to a black American on the National Mall.All manner of Presidents, politicians and celebrities were on hand for the moment.

Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it did make me think.

The Civil Rights Movement stands as a testament to what the masses can accomplish…what everyday women, men and children can do in the cause of social justice. I like to remember that and the power of the individual in a world obsessed with the power of the celebrated and elected.

For me, those of us who inherited the torch are living memorials.

Hopefully, The King Memorial will remind us of the responsibility we all have in protecting our priceless inheritance.

8 comments:

Of course, gender seems important here as well as it was often African-American women who did the real work of organizing and implementing protests in the late forties and early fifties. Male leaders then swept in and became the “public face.”

On another side, how did people refrain from slapping Bush at this ceremony? He stands as somebody who has set back the course of Social Justice by decades.

I am so glad that this is finally happening; so sad that it has taken so long. I remember that I was pushing my children in their double stroller when I heard about Martin Luther King's death -- and the younger one will be 41 next month! This should have happened before they were old enough to vote.

At the risk of sounding trite: let's not forget that King's work isn't done. We can't be memorials in the sense that we simply commemorate and represent a past. We have to be memorials in action. The civil rights movement must continue through us... until all of us are free of discrimination in the housing market, in employment, in education.

As ABB said, let's remember the power of the "everyday men, women and children." Call your local Fair Housing Council, Urban League, NAACP, or any other civil rights organization and learn about what just one person can do to make a difference.

Brown and Black people have been in this country HOW long? And we have a statue commemorating a person of color thirty-some years after the man died??? I'd like to see the statue of all those slave owners taken down, thank you very much.